Monday, December 06, 2010

Our Hanukka holiday joy was dashed as Israelis watched the seemingly unstoppable raging fire destroy our precious forest land and threaten homes, villages and kibbutzim. The sight of international aid coming to our rescue, especially that of the Turks, and the water-dropping foreign aircraft was the only relief from the depressing and frightening images on our TV screens.

According to the AP:

Israel battles forest fire with foreign help"HAIFA, Israel – Responding to an unprecedented Israeli distress call, aircraft from Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Britain dumped sea water and flame retardant Friday, battling a woodland inferno that has killed dozens, displaced thousands and ravaged one of the Holy Land's most prized forests.

As the country mourned the dead, Israelis — long known for their high-tech society and vaunted rescue missions abroad — were stunned at their firefighters' helplessness in quelling the blaze, the worst forest fire in the nation's history."-more

And according to Bloomberg:

Planes Arrive From Greece, Bulgaria to Aid Israel With Fire

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- "Planes from Greece and Bulgaria arrived in Israel today with firefighters and equipment to help contain a forest blaze near the port city of Haifa that has killed about 40 people and forced the departure of 14,000 others.

The planes landed at the Ramat David air base southeast of Haifa, an Army spokeswoman said, speaking anonymously according to military regulation. Spain, Croatia, Turkey, France, Russia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, the U.K., Egypt and Romania have also pledged to send aircraft, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Israel expects about 20 planes from those countries to arrive during the course of the day, said Menachem Caspi, one of the firefighter commanders. The planes will have to work over the next few days until the blaze is fully extinguished, he said in a televised press conference from Haifa today."-more